As with nearly all of Latin America, Ecuador is a multi- racial society that historically separated the rights of differing groups according to ethnicity. The liberal program of the Enlightenment, formally institutionalized after termination of the Wars of Independence sought to exclude the majority of the populace from political rights on the basis of color and property while simultaneously integrating all individuals as citizens of the nation-state without regard to color. This brought all inhabitants of the country under a unified code of law written and administered exclusively by whites. While actively defending their rights by legal process during the colonial period, Indians experienced a significant reduction in status and prerogative through the 19th century and into the 1960's. A confluence of factors reversed that pattern, starting with passage of the Agrarian Reform Law in 1964. Since then, Indians have regained confidence and integrity as a people separate from white European descendants. Formation of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) in 1986 launched a new era in which Indians are uniting to work toward legal and political parity between the races. They are pressing the government to accept a concept of "plurinationalism," under which multiple nations would have identities within the formal nation-state. This would involve the transfer of lands and the legalization of the Indian nationalities. Having won suspension of one national law by playing the judiciary against the executive branch of the government, CONAIE's activism will not diminish as long as its vision for indigenous nationalities is unfulfilled. 24 notes and a 42-item bibliography